Atlanta ? NBA commissioner David Stern delivered two pieces of news Saturday night, announcing that Darko Milicic of Yugoslavia will be eligible for the 2003 draft and that the first round of the playoffs will be changed from best-of-5 to best-of-7.

Both agreements came after talks with the NBA players’ union, whose director, Billy Hunter, joined Stern on the dais for his annual All-Star weekend news conference.

The owners and players also agreed to meet this summer to begin discussing an extension of the collective bargaining agreement that will expire after the 2003-04 or 2004-05 season.

“We are feeling pretty good about the state of the NBA in a very difficult economic time and in a very turbulent world,” Stern said.

The change in draft eligibility rules will allow international players to declare for the draft in the same year in which they turn 18. Previously, the league said a player needed to turn 18 before the draft application deadline, which comes 45 days before the draft.

Eligibility rules for American players will not be changed.

Milicic, 17, has been projected as the possible No. 2 pick in next June’s draft after high school phenom LeBron James.

“He’s thrilled. He’s going to get a chance to live out his dream,” said Marc Cornstein, the U.S.-based agent for Milicic.

The union agreed to expand the first round of the playoffs in exchange for an increase in postseason bonus money and some additional time off for veterans at the start of training camps.

Previous talks between the league and the union failed to produce an agreement on expanding the first round of the playoffs, which have been best-of-5 since 1984.

The change means that all four rounds of the NBA playoffs now will be best-of-7.